Nikola Jokić is on the verge of joining some of the best players in NBA history on quite the exclusive list.

ESPN's Tim Bontemps released his latest MVP straw poll for the 2023-24 season on Wednesday, and the Denver Nuggets big man is comfortably ahead of challengers such as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Boston Celtics guard Jayson Tatum.

Here is a look at the top five vote-getters in the poll that asks 100 media members their MVP opinions and assigns 10 points for a first-place vote, seven points for a second-place one, five points for a third-place one, three points for a fourth-place one and one point for a fifth-place one:

• Nikola Jokić: 953 total points, 85 first-place votes
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 626 total points, 10 first-place votes
  
• Luka Dončić: 493 total points, one first-place vote
  
• Giannis Antetokounmpo: 334 total points, two first-place votes
  
• Jayson Tatum: 119 total points, two first-place votes
  

Jokić won back-to-back MVP awards in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons and finished in second place to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid in 2022-23. Embiid has played just 35 games this season and will not reach the NBA's new 65-game minimum to be eligible for awards such as MVP.

The Nuggets star, who captured 85 of the 100 first-place votes, will be on an impressive list of three-time winners if and when he does win MVP this season.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the record with six MVPs, while Michael Jordan and Bill Russell each won five. LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain are behind them with four, while Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson each won three.

NBA company doesn't get more elite than that, and Jokić has been brilliant again this season while averaging 26.4 points, 12.3 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 57.9 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from deep.

His Nuggets are also in an ideal position to defend their championship at 53-23, which is a half-game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Thunder for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

While he would surely trade his MVPs for another championship, he has an excellent chance to win both this season.